The Story of Us
by Artemis Lupin
Summary: After an ill-timed kiss between Remus and Sirius, they have to deal with their changing relationship over the course of time. Sorry, the summary isn't all that great. Remus/Sirius, Lily/James.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter! **

**Author Notes: We all know that something was going on between Sirius and Remus...starting in the Marauders sixth year at Hogwarts. **

**Warning: Sirius/Remus slash. Deal with it. Also drinking, mild swearing, and overall pranking of the Marauder variety. **

As the Quidditch match ended and cheers erupted from the scarlet and gold clad Gryffindors, Remus Lupin was engulfed in a flurry of limbs.

"Come on Remus!" shouted Lily Evans, her red hair whipping around her face as she grabbed the werewolf's wrist and insistently pulled him down the stands, past rows of exuberant Gryffindors, to end up on the grassy Quidditch pitch. The two shoved through the ecstatic Gryffindor team to the middle, Remus squirming uncomfortably in Lily's grasp, where James Potter and Sirius Black were winking and waving to their fans.

"James!" squeaked Lily gleefully as she threw her arms around her boyfriend's neck and they disentangled themselves from the crowd to walk back up to the castle. Remus looked after them wistfully before turning his attention to Sirius, who was standing with his hands on his hips.

"What, Rem, aren't you going to congratulate me?" Sirius asked, cocking his eyebrow.

"Of course. You were wonderful, as always," Remus said softly, admiration for his dark-haired friend washing through him.

"Naturally. I am Sirius Black after all," quipped Sirius, pulling away from the adoring girls clinging to him and putting his arm around Remus's shoulders, making his stomach whirl with nerves. "Come on, let's get up to the castle. We have a party to throw!"

Hours later, Remus was in the midst of a full-blown party. Gryffindors of every year filled the common room, trays of food and bottles of both Firewhiskey and the muggle drink beer, procured by Sirius, covered the tables, and banners proclaiming the Quidditch cup win were draped on the walls. Remus surveyed the situation in bemusement, looking for his friends. He knew that Lily and James had long since established themselves on a couch to snog and review James's spectacular catch of the snitch with adoring fans, and that Peter had snuck up to the dorms for some privacy. Remus half thought of joining Peter, not liking these big parties very much and wishing for the solitude of his bed and comfort of his book, until he located Sirius; who was halfway through his second bottle of Firewhiskey and attempting to convince two love-struck fourth years to try some beer. Remus marched over to his friend, pushing through the sea of people to admonish his friend.

"Sirius! They're not of age, and neither are you!" the werewolf insisted, tearing the drinks out of the fourth years' hands and pulling Sirius away.

"Oh lighten up Moony, you're such a wanker sometimes. Watch this!"

Remus retracted from Sirius at these words, shocked and concerned about what Sirius was about to do, while his friend jumped up on the nearest table, scattering crisps everywhere and drawing the attention of almost every girl in the room.

"Who wants to snog Sirius Black?" Sirius shouted drunkenly, and was answered immediately by screams and a stampede of girls. Remus watched in amazement as a fifth year, Annie Colt, followed his friend out of the common room and down the hallway. Remus paused for a moment and then tore out after the pair, following Annie's giggles down the corridor to a passage covered by a heavy tapestry. Trembling, Remus pulled the tapestry back slowly, tears sliding into his eyes as he saw the pair snogging heavily. He gasped, startling the two out of their activities.

"Remus...what? What are you doing, can't you see that I'm busy?" questioned Sirius, confused and with a tinge of anger in his voice, glancing blankly between Annie and Remus.

"I just...I thought you might regret..." Remus said in a panicked tone of voice, frozen in place by Sirius's angry glare.

"Thought I might regret what, Remus? The only thing I regret right now is choosing you as a friend," Sirius snapped, and at this statement Remus turned and fled back to the common room, stumbling as tears blurred his eyes.

_This is how people lose friends! I promised myself I would never actively do anything that might endanger the friends that, somehow, actually seem to like me. Stupid stupid stupid. _Remus thought to himself, walking listlessly around the common room, where the party was still in full swing, until he ran into a first year who was stumbling around, clearly tipsy and holding a bottle of Firewhiskey.

"Who gave you this? Who? Was it Sirius? Oh, never mind, just get back up to your room and be glad I'm not giving you a detention," Remus growled, snatching the drink out of the little girl's hand and half-carrying her to the bottom of the girls staircase. _Hmmmm,_ Remus thought as he watched the girl stagger up the stairs, _perhaps I should try...it seems to work for them..._and Remus took a swig of the foamy liquid. He winced as the liquid burned down his throat, but persisted drinking until the Firewhiskey was gone. A light buzz filled his senses, partially erasing the pain and self-loathing filling him. He wandered over to where Lily and James were settled on their couch, snagging another bottle of Firewhiskey from a table on his way.

"Hey Moony, what's up? Did Sirius finally convince you to loosen up a little?" James questioned, noticing the bottle in Remus's hand.

"You could say that," Remus said bitterly, swaying slightly as he lifted the bottle to his mouth and took a long sip.

"Remus, you might want to slow down," Lily interjected, noticing that Remus's swaying was increasing with every sip he took and picking up on the pain in his voice. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"No, I...I...," and with those words, Remus blacked out.

"Come on, let's put him up here...Merlin...he's so bloody light..."

"Wonder what happened to him? He never drinks."

"He did seem upset...I bet Sirius knows."

"Probably. Let's go James, there's nothing we can do for him now. Your dorm or mine?"

"Mine. Peter is the only one there now, I don't think Sirius has returned yet."

Remus twitched at the mention of Sirius's name, which sounded muffled and barely distinguishable through the pounding in his head. The voices faded before he could move further, and the next moment the blackness engulfed him again.

Remus awoke to a tickling sensation on his face. He opened his eyes to find that a mop of long black hair was hanging over what looked like the edge of a couch to fall on his face. He sneezed, and then gasped as he inhaled the unmistakable scent of Sirius, jerking upright and then moaning as his vision blurred and his head pounded.

"Well hellooooo Moons," Sirius slurred. "What're you doing down there on the floor?"

Remus laughed inwardly at Sirius's position; the taller boy was sprawled across the couch with his head hanging down, but then stifled his amusement as the memory of his encounter with Sirius rushed back into his head.

"You tell me," Remus said slowly, attempting to push himself up from the floor. In his drunken state, however, he wound up on top of Sirius instead, causing a blush to immediately color his cheeks and butterflies to fill his stomach.

"Whoaaaaa there Rem, no need to attack me," Sirius looked up at Remus lazily, righting his head so that it was laying on the armrest of the couch and holding onto the werewolf's arms to prevent him from rising, as he was so emphatically trying to do.

"S-s-Sirius! Let me...oh" Remus ceased to protest and let out a soft sigh as Sirius's lips were suddenly pressed against his own and everything was perfect and lights were exploding behind his eyes and he never knew anything could be so right. But then the contact was removed, and the events of the night moved into high relief in his thoughts, and he realized that Sirius must be playing a joke or was just too drunk to realize what he was doing. And with that realization, Remus fled, leaving Sirius to pass out again on the couch in the wreckage of the party.

**More chapters are on their way! Remember to review por favor! **


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.**

**Author Note: Thank you to my lovely friend, Lila Stark (go check her out!) for her help with this chapter. There are warnings in the first chapter. **

The kiss was all Remus could remember the next morning as he woke up, ran to the bathroom to retch into the toilet, took something for his pounding headache, and showered to cleanse the smell of Firewhiskey from his skin and hair. The smoothness of Sirius's lips, his unique smell, his charming smile was all Remus thought about as he dressed in clean clothes, nudged James and Peter awake, and walked down into the common room. The adorable way his hair fell in his face as...

"MERLIN!" Remus exclaimed as he surveyed the common room and saw three second years standing over Sirius with a pair of scissors, preparing to cut off a lock of said hair. Remus scrambled to shoo them away, waking Sirius in the process.

"Whoa. Remmy. Merlin, I feel awful. Do you have the hangover cure?" Sirius extended his hand, and as Remus took it to pull his friend off the couch, a pleasant tingling filled his hand. Sirius let go quickly though, and looked expectantly at Remus. With a sigh, the werewolf passed Sirius a small bottle of liquid, which Sirius gulped gratefully and then walked towards the portrait hole, swaying slightly.

"Where are you going?" Remus asked, following Sirius cautiously.

"Breakfast," Sirius grunted, climbing through the portrait hole.

"Of course..." The two meandered down to the Great Hall for breakfast, Remus deducing from Sirius's muttering about the previous night that Sirius remembered very little, least of all their kiss. Just as they were about to enter the hall, Professor McGonagall swept out, and paused as she examined the two boys.

"Mr. Black. While I'm aware that you had reason to celebrate last night, as I see that you did-" McGonagall paused to survey Sirius's matted hair, dirty clothes, and slightly dazed look with distaste, "the consumption of Firewhiskey and muggle beer is strictly prohibited for underage wizards such as yourself. And you, Mr. Lupin," she directed her gaze at Remus, frowning, "should have prevented this from happening. You are a prefect; I'm extremely disappointed. Winning the Quidditch cup is no excuse for underage drinking; therefore you will both serve detention tonight in the trophy room and forty points will be taken from Gryffindor for your inappropriate behavior." With this declaration, Professor McGonagall walked away purposefully, leaving two stunned boys behind her.

"How...how did she know there was muggle beer?" Sirius asked, putting a hand to his head and looking at Remus.

"A troll could have figured it out," Remus said, irritated that his friend had once again gotten him into detention

"Calm down Moony, it's just detention" Sirius pouted, sitting down at the Gryffindor table and loading his plate with food. "Now tell me what happened last night, I can barely remember anything past this headache, and it's not like McGonagall helped either."

Remus rolled his eyes in exasperation, but commenced telling Sirius some of the events of the previous night, slowing down more and more as he approached the kiss, dreading Sirius's reactions and debating whether or not he would even tell Sirius when—

"BLOODY HELL!" Sirius suddenly stopped, a piece of toast halfway to his mouth, and turned to face Remus with a look of realization and confusion plastered on his face. "Remus. Remus, did I...did we...I mean I have this memory of...I'm probably imagining it...did we kiss?" He whispered the last word as if it was forbidden, and Remus just looked at him in shock. With Sirius as drunk as he was last night, Remus wasn't expecting him to remember, although part of him was overjoyed that Sirius did remember. Remus opened his mouth, trying to come up with a good answer...and then bolted out of the Great Hall in panic.

As Remus polished the tarnished metal of the trophy sitting in front of him, his heart racing at the reality of being alone with Sirius, he tried to think of a way to break the silence that filled the room.

"We did kiss," Remus blurted, unable to hold the statement in any longer. He looked down at the trophy, not daring to look at Sirius just yet, waiting. Finally, as the silence became oppressive, Remus turned, to see his friend staring at him.

"Er...um...I guess...I think so too..." Sirius stammered, determinedly looking anywhere but Remus's face.

"Well..." Remus started, but failed to finish his sentence as embarrassment and regret filled him.

"It wasn't...well...it wasn't a BAD kiss. Just so you know. Bloody hell. I'm sorry Rem," Sirius was now blushing, something he rarely did, and Remus smiled inside at Sirius's confession.

"Oh. Well. I guess it wasn't a bad kiss for me either," Remus felt his blush spread and intensify and he whispered those words, and in an effort to alleviate the awkward tension in the room, he coughed and started chattering to fill the silence.

"So there's going to be an Exploding Snap tournament, are you in it? James is, and so is Lily even though she's not good at it; I think she just wants an excuse to try to beat James, and I'm sure that if you're in it she'd love to beat you as well. I'm not in it, but I promised that I would help get food from the kitchens for the first day of the tournament, so—"

"Remus. Hang on a moment. I need you to promise me something. I need you to promise that you won't tell anyone about our...kiss. Not anyone, not James or Pete or Lily or ANYONE, ok?" Sirius ventured, a note of desperation in his voice.

"Oh. Yeah, that makes sense. Okay, of course. I mean, you kept my secret, right? So I can keep this secret," Remus answered, meeting Sirius's questioning gaze with a sad smile and hiding his disappointment.

With this, the two finished their detention in uncomfortable silence; each internally puzzling over their emotions at this most recent situation and casting occasional glances at the other when he thought the other wasn't looking.

**Review! Review! **


	3. Chapter 3

**Author Note: I might be messing up the timing in terms of the relation of the Quidditch Cup to Sirius's birthday to the last Hogsmeade visit to the end of term...but oh well, this needed to happen! **

"What is it Moony? What is it? Tell me!" Sirius tugged on Remus's arm, causing the werewolf to smear his ink across the parchment he was writing on and sigh in exasperation. Sirius knew there was a surprise coming and had been pestering Remus for the better part of two hours.

"Padfoot! Look what you did!" Remus looked at his friend and laughed; only protesting halfheartedly.

"Sorry, sorry," Sirius waved away the accident, bouncing around Remus's chair excitedly. "So? What is it?"

"You'll know in a few minutes!" Remus checked his watch, and seeing the time, he pulled a strip of black fabric out of his bag. "Now come here, I have to put this on you so that you behave." He positioned himself behind Sirius and tied the blindfold over Sirius's eyes, inhaling the smell of his shampoo longingly and giggling slightly at the tickle of his friend's hair against his wrist as Sirius continued to move restlessly. Remus then beckoned to the redheaded Lily, turning Sirius to face her as she hurried over.

"Now Sirius, Lily is going to take you down in a moment. Please just be patient for a few more minutes, alright?" As Remus pushed Sirius towards Lily, the dark-haired boy frowned but acquiesced, allowing Remus to hurry out of the common room and down to the lake outside the castle. When he got there, he strode around a distance to where James and Peter were standing next to a blanket covered with pillows and light blankets, as well as various refreshments.

"Is it all ready?" Remus questioned anxiously, surveying the preparations for Sirius's birthday present to make sure everything was perfect.

"Of course it is, Rem. Do you really think I would mess this up for you? It's a good present, he'll love it," James reassured his friend, smiling at the shorter boy's apprehensiveness, and Peter nodded enthusiastically. "Look! Here he comes!" The three turned as they saw Lily, dragging Sirius along rather forcibly by the wrist. Remus hurried to his position, pulling out his wand as Lily and James settled Sirius on the blanket next to Peter, who was already eating.

"Three...two...ONE!" James pulled the blindfold off of Sirius's face and, after a momentary pause in which Remus's stomach swooped with nerves and Sirius's eyes adjusted to their shadowy surroundings, the night lit only by starlight and casting shadows over the glassy surface of the lake, Remus began murmuring a series of spells; setting off a succession of fireworks designed for Sirius. Present in the glittering display along with explosions of sound and color were large, shimmering versions of the Gryffindor crest, a shaggy dog representing Sirius's animagus form, and for the finale, a full-color recreation of Sirius in his Quidditch robes throwing the Quaffle through the golden goal hoop. When it was over, Remus was bathed in a mixture of relief that the display went off smoothly, and nervous energy at the unknown nature of Sirius's reaction to the presentation.

"Wow...Moony, was this all your idea? How did you DO that? That was-that was just spectacular!" Sirius jumped up from where he had been seated, openmouthed, watching the fireworks, and hurried towards Remus. When he reached his friend, he engulfed the werewolf in a massive hug, whispering his thanks in Remus's ear. Remus was bathed in delight at Sirius's reaction and grinned at the strength with which Sirius was embracing him, shivering slightly as Sirius's warm breath caressed his ear.

"Aww Moons, are you cold? Come here and have some Butterbeer, that'll warm you up!" Sirius said, breaking the hug as he noticed Remus's shiver in favor of putting his arm around the boy's shoulder and walking with him back to the blanket. The two boys sat down, and, over Butterbeer, chocolate cake, and assorted snacks, Lily, James, and Peter presented their own presents to Sirius.

After much talking and laughing, James and Lily yawned and stood up and announced that they were going up to the castle. Peter jumped up clumsily, knocking over a basket of leftover snacks as he hastened to follow the couple.

"Oh! Sirius! Helen wanted to know if you would go to Hogsmeade with her this weekend," Lily turned and shouted back, accidentally flipping her fiery hair into Peter's face.

"Helen who?" Sirius frowned, clearly attempting to remember which of the many girls he knew was named Helen.

"Helen from Ravenclaw! She's in our year! Shy, blond hair, accidentally jinxed her partner in Defense Against the Dark Arts at the beginning of the term..." Lily trailed off at the look of comprehension dawning on Sirius's face as he finally remembered the girl in question. He thought for a moment, then:

"Tell her no," Sirius said carelessly, examining a hole beginning to form in his pants.

"What?" James, Lily, and Remus all burst out at the same time, shocked at Sirius's refusal of a date with an attractive female.

"Don't worry about it. Just go back up to the castle like you were planning," Sirius said moodily. James, Lily, and Peter obeyed, trooping back up to the castle, but Lily could be heard exclaiming about what an idiot she thought Sirius was as she walked. Once the three had traveled a sufficient distance, Remus turned to look at Sirius, who had laid back and was staring up at the stars with an unreadable look on his face.

"What was that about?" Remus questioned, looking at Sirius with confusion plastered across his face.

"Nothing," Sirius answered curtly.

"Are you not going to Hogsmeade?"

"I am,"

"Then...do you already have a date?"

"No,"

"Why didn't you want to go with that girl, then?"

"It's not important," With this, Sirius rose from the blanket and tried to start gathering up the excess snacks and his belongings. Remus, who had grown increasingly confused during the conversation and who could not fathom the reason why Sirius had suddenly become upset and closed off, jumped up and grabbed Sirius by the shoulders.

"Sirius. What's going on?" Sirius shook Remus off, but answered all the same.

"I just don't want to go to Hogsmeade with a girl this week, alright? All they ever want to do is snog and then go back to my dorm or a secluded classroom or something, and I just can't wrap my head around kissing anyone right now," Sirius burst out, staring at Remus in a challenging manner.

"Oh. That's fine," Remus calmly helped Sirius tidy up and prepare to go back up to the dorm, but inside he was tentatively hopeful that Sirius was unable to kiss anyone and pursue his usual routines for a Hogsmeade weekend due to the kiss he had shared with Remus. Through the long walk up to the castle and the seemingly endless night, Remus mulled it over until he had convinced himself that his theory was correct. However, one thing puzzled Remus. Sirius hadn't made a move or spoken a word since indicating that he wanted a relationship with Remus. Why, then, did a drunken kiss that he was forbidden to talk about work such an effect on Sirius that he refused to kiss anyone else?


	4. Chapter 4

**Author Note: I haven't written a lot of fights like this before, so I welcome reviews! Also, Lila Stark- the rating is M just to be safe. No one wants to get shut down!**

"Come on, Pete," Remus and Sirius shouted simultaneously in frustration, staring up at their short friend as he paused just outside the doors of Hogwarts.

"I'm stuck!" Peter wailed, tugging on the edge of his robe, which had gotten caught in the door as it closed. Remus and Sirius sighed and looked at each other in exasperation, then trudged up the stairs to tug Peter out.

"Sorry! Sorry!" Peter whined, prompting Remus to roll his eyes at Peter's clumsiness and hope that their trip to Hogsmeade wasn't made too awkward by the smaller boy. He wanted to talk to Sirius about their conversation on Sirius's birthday, particularly why Sirius continued to turn girls down until the three walked out of the doors. Heart pounding at the possibilities whirling through his head at this strange behavior, Remus was too lost in thought to notice the large group of Slytherins entering the village at the same time as the three Marauders.

"Watch yourself," snarled the boy at the head of the group, jostling Remus and knocking him sideways into Sirius. Remus's stomach jumped as Sirius steadied him, and then looked up to see who had pushed him. Sirius growled as he saw Regulus, his brother, standing there, and Remus groaned as he realized a confrontation was imminent.

"You watch yourself, twat," Sirius spat, striding up to push the younger Black so that he stumbled. "Apologize! NOW!"

"Why the bloody hell would I apologize?" sneered Regulus, glaring daggers at Sirius. "Especially to...that." Regulus glanced at Remus disdainfully, causing Sirius to turn bright red with fury. Remus knew that Regulus meant his half-blood status, not his lycanthropy, however this fact didn't seem to register in Sirius's mind.

"Apologize you self-centered piece of shit!" hissed Sirius, escalating wildly and reaching into his robes for his wand.

"Make me," Regulus said snidely, turning to walk away with his friends but sliding his own hand into his robes to clutch what was clearly his wand.

"Sirius, leave it! It doesn't matter!" Remus pleaded, but Sirius had already yanked out his wand and shouted and incantation. A jet of purple light streaked past Regulus, and Sirius cursed at his failed attempt and turned to Remus.

"He insulted you, the slimy little arsewipe," Sirius growled, wand out warily in anticipation of Regulus's reaction and eyes locked on his brother.

"You just don't know when to quit, do you?" Regulus spat venomously, whirling and brandishing his wand menacingly.

"Like you would ever be able to curse me," Sirius scoffed loudly at Regulus's gesture, and then continued his tirade. "You still haven't apologized, scum."

"I would never apologize to a blood traitor and dirty-blooded filth like you," Regulus laughed coldly, glancing at each of the three Marauders in turn and then resting his eyes on Sirius's face, which had gone white at the echo of his mother.

"Fuck you! You're the blood traitor!" Sirius screeched, brandishing his wand again. At this, Remus realized that if he wanted to perform his duties as prefect and, more importantly, have a chance at his talk with Sirius, he needed to break up the situation.

"Excuse me," said Remus loudly, stepping between the two Black brothers. Both shot him venomous looks, Regulus's far more deathly than Sirius's, but they fell silent as Remus continued. "This is neither the time nor the place. Let's not ruin the last Hogsmeade day of the year with conflict." At the sight of the boys' tense looks and failure to lower their wands, Remus groaned in exasperation and spoke again.

"Lower your wands right now or I will put you in detention!" This proclamation caused the Black brothers to lower their wands and Regulus to motion for his group to follow him into the village, though not without several threatening looks that Remus missed as he turned to urge Sirius into motion.

The three walked into the village and hurried to Zonko's Joke Shop, Remus listening sympathetically to Sirius's grumbling about his family.

"I can't believe I'm related to that slime. He's become insufferable since 'dearest mother' started babying him. 'Precious little Regulus, living up to the Black name'" Sirius mocked bitterly, impersonating his vicious mother. "At least I'm out of that hellhole now."

"Oh right, your own flat. Have you settled on one?" Remus questioned, watching Sirius out of the corner of his eye as he scanned the merchandise. Sirius appeared to have calmed down, but failed to answer Remus's question, prompting Remus to hurry over and shake Sirius's shoulder.

"What?" Sirius jolted out of his reverie and looked at Remus in confusion, causing butterflies in Remus's stomach as Sirius's gray eyes bored into his own.

"I..I was asking if you've settled on a flat yet?" Remus faltered as Sirius turned back to the shelf of Nose-Biting Teacups he had been inspecting.

"Oh, sorry Rem. I was just trying to figure out if I could curse one of these to attack Regulus at breakfast. Or maybe just clamp onto his nose permanently..." Sirius trailed off wistfully, then grabbed one of the teacups and threw his arm around Remus's shoulder. As Sirius guided Remus over to the register, Remus scanned the shop for Peter; but upon failing to spot him, Remus succumbed to the warmth of Sirius's arm and all thoughts of Peter flew out of his head as Sirius continued the conversation.

"Let's go pay for this, I'm sure we can figure out how to charm it. I did find a flat, by the way. It has a kitchen-"

"Which you will never use," Remus interjected. Sirius shot Remus a teasing glare as he paid, but continued his description.

"A sitting room attached to the kitchen, a bathroom, and two bedrooms," Sirius finished, opening the door for Remus.

"Thanks," Remus said casually, but inside he smiled at Sirius's courtesy. Then he was pulled out of his moment of distraction as he realized that Sirius claimed to have two bedrooms, which made little sense for Sirius's living habits. "Wait. Why two bedrooms? You've never said anything about expecting guests and when you have girls over, they'll be in your bedroom..."

"Oh. Well. I was thinking I might not live alone after all," Sirius said softly, blushing slightly. A sinking feeling eclipsed Remus's confusion at this statement; while he had no clue who this mystery person who was going to be living with his best friend might be, he was sure that it was some pretty young girl with loads of family. Images of Sirius sneaking around Hogwarts with this girl, having a relationship kept secret from even the Marauders, filled his head, only to be replaced with images of her parents staying in Sirius's extra bedroom when they visited their daughter after Hogwarts...

"Moony, you okay?" Sirius had grabbed Remus by both shoulders and was shaking him gently, looking concerned.

"What? Right, sorry." Remus shrugged out of the contact, realizing that in his moment of nightmarish daydreaming, he had stopped dead in the middle of the path to the Three Broomsticks. He ignored the strange looks and glares he and Sirius were getting in favor of pursuing his conversation with Sirius.

"Who are you living with, then?" Remus tried to sound normal, but his voice shook slightly and he hoped Sirius wouldn't notice.

"I wanted to live with...you." Remus had squeezed his eyes shut at the beginning of Sirius's sentence, but at the end his eyes flew open so that he could stare into Sirius's. He was expecting to see a laughing glint, Sirius's signature smile as he was pulling a prank, but all he saw was a hint of anxiety and expectation.

"What?" He hardly dared to believe that Sirius was being, well, serious, and all he wanted was to agree blindly before Sirius could rescind his offer, but the memory of how uncomfortable Sirius seemed to be sometimes at Remus's company after the kiss drifted to the forefront of his mind.

"Well, I know that it'll be hard for you to find a job after school because of your, er, furry little problem, and I know you're worried about hurting people at home so I would be able to help with that, and I just thought that maybe I could help. A safe place for you to stay, without rent, with your friend..." Sirius trailed off at the sight of the frown crossing Remus's face, awkwardly shifting from foot to foot as he waited for Remus to speak.

As Sirius's words sank in, Remus sank deep into despair. He thought that possibly, Sirius might have wanted him to move in because he returned Remus's feelings, or wanted to stay close to Remus, or any other reason but...

"Charity," Remus spat. "I don't want your charity. I can take care of myself." Remus recoiled inwardly at the shock written on Sirius's face, but strode away angrily. All he wanted was some privacy, but of course Sirius followed him.

"Moony, it's not charity!

"Yes it is!" Remus snapped, increasing his pace so that Sirius had to run to keep up. "I don't need your help."

"Moony—" Sirius tried to grab Remus's arm to stop him, but Remus pulled away angrily and continued up to the castle, leaving Sirius standing alone in the middle of the path.


End file.
